Described as a species of Aepeomys and thereafter classified as a subspecies or synonym of lugens, whether listed under Aepeomys (Musser and Carleton, 1993) or Thomasomys (Cabrera, 1961). Pacheco (in Voss et al., 2002) considered vulcani to be a form of Thomasomys proper, its status and relationships yet to be resolved.